Closet Lunatic
by ColdSpaghetti
Summary: In Norran High School, Marceline Abadeer is a mysterious, dangerous face no one has any idea how to decipher. No one trusts a person they can't read, and Marceline is unreadable. Bonnibel Banner can't help but be curious, what's hiding behind this destructive girl's glare? (I suck at summaries, read and give it a chance. A bit of a slow-burn. T rate may change for later chapters.)
1. Prolouge

Prologue:

 _Day One_

* * *

Words spindled through the cracks of her unconsciousness, murmurs of urgency, sirens getting softer, then the moment when it happened, where it felt like the world was tearing apart. A horrible, abrupt moment filled with raw terror and screaming agony.

Young Marceline Abadeer cried out, jolting back into her dark bedroom in a mess of barely withheld howls and trembling shoulders.

"N-No.." she whimpered, biting onto her bottom lip to keep more noise from escaping, her eyes awash with tears as she wrapped her pale arms around her stomach, as if it would keep her nightmares abay, keep her from going back to that moment.

It took what felt like several long hours before five year old Marceline thought she was brave enough to open her eyes and let go of the death grip she had around herself.

It had only been a day since she'd been allowed to go home from the hospital, and despite scrubbing herself down at least three times, she still couldn't seem to get the terrible smell of the place off of her. She supposed that's what happened when you were trapped under a coma..

How long had that'd been?

It was a couple days of physical therapy to get her body ready to function and return home, but it still felt like some fantasy, thinking it had been at least months since she'd last opened her eyes, spoken a word, or stood up and walked.

It felt fake, like she was walking a blurry picture of reality. Nothing held traction, but the doctors told her that was normal, that it was okay to feel displaced.

Thin fingers searched around the sheets, seeking something to give her a sense of comfort, and they clasped eventually around Hambo. The cottons of the familiar stuffed animal causing some of the shakey tension to leave the small girl's shoulders as she hugged the prized, beloved toy to her chest and rocked back n forth on top of the shrewn blankets.

Knowing he was still there gave her a small lump of security, so much of her once happy life was missing after all. She choked on the memories that were brought back to her. A dark reminder that yes, it was actually real and not a dream. It hurt, and the child sobbed against her stuffed animal, hissing "M-Mom…! Please..! I'm so sorry! Mom!"

The door to her room opened, and little Marceline furiously wiped her face as Hunson entered the small bedroom. His dark eyes settled on his daughter's form and a heavy sigh escaped his mouth, a testament to how much the sight brought him sadness. "Oh Marce.." he croaked, moving over to the bed, he wrapped his arms around his child

"I'm sorry.. It'll be okay sweetheart.. I-It'll be okay.." he murmured, and the small girl whimpered pitfully as she clung to his shirt, nuzzling close to his chest

"D-Daddy.." she cried "W-Why did.. was it my fault?"

She desperately wanted to know, she needed to see the reason for it all, needed to understand _why_ this had to happen, why her mother wasn't there when she woke up.

"It'll be okay Marceline.." he repeated, before pulling back to cup her cheek, meeting her teary eyes with his own broken ones "We just have to stay strong. Be strong for me, Marceline. Daddy's little monster.." he smiled thinly, and looked off to the side before kissing her forehead. They stayed there for a little bit longer, a father holding his weeping daughter

"Get some sleep, sweetheart." His deep hollow voice echoing in the cold quiet as the last thing he said before eventually letting go of her, and ridgedly exiting the room.

Marcy trembled, wrapping the covers around herself as she softly pulled herself into a fitful sleep. He never did answer her question, and would never answer any of her other questions after.

Eventually she stopped asking.

That was day one. The first night she spent home in her own bed, and the last night she could truly remember her Father caring for her.

Now, it's 12 years later, and everything has changed.


	2. Chapter One: First Impressions

Chapter One: _First Impressions_

* * *

 **Sunday, September 2nd, 2018**

Bonnibel Banner sighed, her cheek resting against the knuckles of her fist as she propped her elbow against the side of the car, her soft green eyes peering out distantly across the blurring expanse of buildings and trees. Everything seemed so far away, as though this was a dream. She was certainly tired enough for it to feel like it, after traveling in a car for at least nine hours.

She closed her eyes, twirling a strand of straight pink hair that she'd recently re-dyed. Thinking back to the past few days, the call from her parents, she remembered picking up the phone and expecting them to tell her that finally they were coming home, that they could be a family again. She remembered the way her heart iced over when they told her she would be moving to live with her uncle in another state, how it would help "guide her further into the family business" at the end of High School. How fantastic.

It all left an empty, bitter taste in her mouth, but she supposed it was nice she was finally going out of state. She'd be able to have a- hopefully - better experience than she had in her last school.

Bonnibel got the sense she'd missed something. Opening her eyes she turned her head "I'm sorry?"

Peter Minton, her uncle, smiled. She still could remember the days when she was little and called him Peppermint to mess with the way the letters of his name fit together. Whenever he visited they would play some silly games and she would pretend that he was her butler, her Peppermint Butler.

His weary eyes fixed upon her briefly before he looked back to the congested road in front of them "I asked your opinion on the city so far?"

"Oh." she hummed, blinking into the physical world once again, she peered out at the streets of New Brook City, her new home for the foreseeable future.

"It looks.. nice." she said, giving him a smile to thinly hide her white lie.

He must have noticed, because he exhaled, raising a hand he scratched lightly at the side of his face before passing her a gentle smile "Listen Bonnibel.. I know this isn't what you wanted, and you'd probably rather be back home, but I hope that you can come to like it here. I'm at least happy that I'll be spending time with you."

he tilted his head, looking at her with total sincerity.

She couldn't help but return a small smile of her own, feeling a little less sick about moving, knowing that she at least would be spending it with family that gave any sense of a shit about her. "Thanks Uncle Peter, I'll try to give it a chance." she promised, peering out as they picked up motion in traffic. A short bit later Peter turned the car down a different road.

"Are we close?" Bonnibel found herself asking, sitting up some so that she could stretch in the seat.

"Yes, nearly there! The house is just north some ways here." Peter enthused, clearly looking forward to getting out of the driver's seat after such a long time.

Bonnibel closed her eyes, hoping that could will time to move by quicker. The sooner she could lay down in a bed the better.

It was another thirty minutes, but eventually they pulled to a stop in the driveway. "Home sweet home" she distantly heard Peter say, as she sleepily meandered her way to the trunk to grab her suitcase and other bags. She had been told that her Uncle had prepared a room for her, but not exactly how furnished it was, so Bonnie had elected to bring as many of her things as she could. As such gathering her things was quickly becoming a losing battle, as the sixteen year old strained to hold everything securely in her arms.

"Whoa Bonnie! H-Here let me help you!" Peter uttered, a touch of worry in his voice as he lightened her load considerably, making Bonnibel sigh "I wanted to see if I could hold them all." she grumbled softly, causing her uncle to chuckle as he lead her inside.

For a short guy he didn't seem to be having any trouble holding her things in his arms as he nodded easily to the cozy interior around them "Living room," he jerked his head to the right "and over there's the kitchen. Now if you'll follow me.." he lead her down the hall, bringing her to the door on the far end.

"Here's where your room is, you also have your own adjoining bathroom." he told her, hazel eyes watching her face, clearly nervous over what she'd think of it.

Bonnibel said nothing as she opened the bedroom door and stepped inside, a bit shocked to find it was painted a very light shade of pink, and fully furnished with it's own tv, beanbags, queen sized bed, dresser and wooden desk. Placing the suitcase and bags she carried on the floor beside the bed, she turned to smile at her Uncle "It's perfect. Thank you for doing all this for me, Uncle Peter."

Seemingly relieved, he nodded "Of course Bonnibel." he hesitated, but took a step back after placing her things by the door.

"I'll let you settle in, and then we can talk about Norran High School."

* * *

 **Monday, September 3nd, 2018 (5:20am)**

To say she was worried was just a little bit of an understatement.

Bonnibel was practically buzzing with nervousness, as she treaded to and fro in the living room, thinking that this would be her first day in an entirely new school, Norran High School. When Peter had told her that she would be going, she both got really excited and really scared.

Bonnie had always found it interesting to learn, and was looking forward to seeing how this school's education differed from back home. The pesky problem was all the unfamiliar students that would be with her.

"Already drilling a hole into the carpet I see." the mildly amused voice of her Uncle filtered into her internal world as she was going over the many scenarios of what a disaster this could be in her head. Running her fingers through her freshly showered and brushed hair for the tenth time, just to make sure. "I might be a bit nervous."

Peter smiled at her, pouring himself a cup of tea before walking over to his niece "There's nothing to be worried about, most people at Norran are very nice, and if they aren't I'll feed them their own eyeballs as the price for hurting you." he smiled calmly, watching her blink at him as he sipped his tea.

"Come on, I'll bring you there so you can get your timetable and look around."

Bonnie watched as Peter put on his shoes and calmly walked out to the car. A snort escaped her and she shook her head "Oh Jeez"

Joining him in the car, she found herself a little less nervous, and attributed that to her Uncle's sudden words having distracted her. Focusing on the road, Bonnibel tried to keep her mind from digging into its own anxiety, "Are you walking in with me?" she inquired, turning to look at Peter as he slowed at a parking stop. "Just to the front desk to get situated." He reassured as they lapsed into silence, the distant hum of the radio the only thing to be heard between them.

Approaching the complex, Bonnie was surprised by its size and the fact it was two buildings, the smaller one just adjacent to the main one, clearly housing other classes that didn't get contained in it's larger counterpart. From what she could see, a courtyard was also wedged between the two structures. "Wow.." Bonnibel breathed, taken away by how Norran High School looked.

Pulling to a stop, Peter beamed "Impressive looking, isn't it? Come on" they both exited the car, and Bonnie stuck her thumbs into the sides of her backpack straps, walking in, her green gaze roving along the interior.

"Hello! How can I help you?" the voice of the woman at the front desk chirped,

Peter gave her an encouraging look "Hi um, my name's Bonnibel Banner, I was starting school today." Bonnie said, straightening her posture and fixing the woman with a kind, tiny smile.

Typing on the computer in front of her, the administrator peered at the informations there that they couldn't see before typing a few other things, causing the familiar mechanical sound of a printer to whirr up off to the left. "Alrighty! Here's your timetable Bonnibel, and an outline of the school so you've got an idea where your classes are." the woman handed her the two papers.

Bonnie peered down at the paper, looking at what classes she had.

 **SCHEDULE:**

 _(8:50am-10:50am) Advanced Physics, classroom 331 [Double Period]_

 _(11:00am-12:45pm) U.S. History Honors, classroom 246[Double Period]_

 _(12:45pm-1:35pm) Lunch_

 _(1:40pm-2:20pm) German, classroom 802_

 _(2:30pm-3:10pm) Chemistry, classroom 355_

Bonnibel looked back to Peter, giving him a nod "I think I can take it from here, thank you." she wrapped an arm around him and he returned with a hug in kind "Of course. Have a great first day Bonnie." Her Uncle waved, exiting the doors they'd entered through.

Hesitantly at first, she proceeded deeper into the school. Bonnie let her eyes wander around, taking in the blue wash-walls covered in motivational posters that the school probably put up, and janky random posters that students had probably snuck on there. She knew there was a huge chance of her getting lost even with the map so she was glad to be able to explore the grounds and gather a mental blueprint in her head.

Quietly, as not to disturb any of the students already there, Bonnibel walked around the halls, trying to figure out where the direction of her classes were. After a couple of minutes, the pink haired girl was tapping a finger to spots on the school outline, mumbling a couple things as she tried to retrace her steps, cheeks a little pink in embarrassment and worry, since her first period would be starting soon. The racket of the busy halls did not attribute to the task being an easy one.

"Excuse me?" a voice addressed her, Bonnibel looked up, meeting the gaze of another girl, her dark brownish-black hair entwined with many, many rainbow strips. Her sparkling blue eyes peeked out of her round, soft face. "My name's Lady. Did you need some help?" Lady asked, giving Bonnie a warm smile. A Korean accent edged her words, but didn't inhibit Bonnie's ability to understand her.

Bonnibel pushed a rouge pink strand from her face, and nodded at Lady "Y-Yeah, I just moved here so.." she cleared her throat "My name's Bonnibel. I'm trying to get to advanced physics." The other girl smiled again, looking over as Bonnie offered her her timetable "Perfect! I'm in that class, and I'm also in your Lunch! I can help show you around if that's ok?" Lady enthused, Bonnibel was a bit taken aback by how nice she was "Thank you, This is really nice of you."

Lady shrugged "It's no trouble! Haha look you weren't actually that far off." The pinkette was guided around the corner, and down the next hallway, before Lady stopped and nodded to the door to their right "Darn.." Bonnibel frowned at the door, had she passed right by it?

Lady giggled, "It's okay, Norran can get a little confusing if you don't know where everything is." Stepping inside, Bonnibel spoke to the teacher, getting what she needed to sorted out and getting a couple of worksheets that she would need to read the physics book to understand. Pausing for a short moment, Bonnie moved over and sat near Lady, who gave her another bright smile.

"So has anyone told you the in's and out's yet?" Lady tilted her head while Bonnie shook hers. Lady sighed, "Well that's dumb, you've gotta have someone that can show you how it works around here." She leaned back, "First things first, you might have seen it, but Norran is split in two buildings, you can find most of your classes here in the main one, but if you need to go to the library, have an art or music class, or if there's an assembly the second building houses all of those classes and junk."

Bonnibel nodded, so glad someone was actually telling her this and she didn't need to embarrass herself figuring it out the hard way. Lady was casually rewinding a rainbow strip in her hair as she continued "We've got a courtyard that goes between the two buildings, when it's warm we go eat out there, oh! You also might hear a couple students call the other building Little Norran or Little Norra, just because it's usually easier to call it that." Lady laughed, looking like she was about to say more when the teacher came alive and began addressing the class, cowing them into a momentary silence.

It wasn't until later at the end of class, as Bonnibel was packing up her notes, that Lady suddenly touched her shoulder. Her sparkling blue eyes looking into Bonnie's own green ones rather seriously "There's really only one more important thing I should really warn you about. Just watch out for The Vampire, okay?She's-" "Pff, what? A Vampire?" Bonnibel cut her off, giving her an incredulous look. Lady shook her head, "She's bad news! no one really knows what her deal is, but it's…" Lady looked away, almost looking scared before she raised her head again "It's smarter if you stay away from her."

Not sure if she really wanted to trust what Lady was saying, Bonnie figured it'd be just as fine to keep her ears out, if this vampire girl, if she was around there would probably talk about it.

Walking into History after a promise from Lady that she'd have a seat with her and her friends, Bonnie nearly walked face-first into another girl. "Sorry," Bonnibel was quick to apologize, taking a step back and looking up into an angular, pale face. The long black hair that cascaded around her shoulders was messy, yet somehow worked for her, but Bonnie wasn't focused on that, because then she looked into the girls eyes. Bonnie felt her chest squeeze in an uncharacteristic flair of fear. This girl's eyes did not sparkle, but crackled with a dark hostile sheen as she glared at Bonnibel. "Whatever." the word was nearly a growl, her piercing glare holding Bonnie prisoner until, finally she turned away and entered the classroom fully.

Bonnie couldn't believe it, but the entire encounter had lasted under three minutes.

Forcing herself out of her daze, the pink haired teen approached the teacher "Hi… I'm new, is there any work I'll need?" she nearly slapped herself for the way her words lagged. Looking up the woman smiled "Yes, I was told about you. Here's some of the work we've started on, we'll be taking a quiz on this Friday. Now wait here let me assign you a seat." she spoke, handing over a couple papers before peering as a seating chart, laid out in alphabetical order via last name.

"Banner huh? You'll be sitting over there." she pointed to the spot right next to the dark haired girl, who's glare scalded Bonnibel as she tracked her approach. Keeping her head down, Bonnie tried not to look over at the other girl and instead focus on catching up to the work the class was working on. The ravenette beside her drummed her pencil to the desk corner and bobbed her head along to muffled music through her earphones, clearly content to shut Bonnibel out as well as the world around her.

Working through the rest of class, the pink headed teen stole a tiny look, and was caught in those cold eyes once again "You wanna say somethin'?" she muttered, shouldering a maroon backpack covered in stickers and pins, the mysterious teen didn't give any room for a reply, as she floated from the room.

Bonnie honestly didn't know what to think, so she resolved to shake her head from her piling thoughts and exit the classroom.

Lunch was certainly a blessing, and almost instantly did she find Lady, as promised, and was then being dragged along towards a crowded bench in the courtyard. "These are my friends" Lady was saying, moving around the table, she placed a hand on a small kid, garbed in a blueish green and holding a gaming pad as well as headphones that matched the color of their clothing.

"This is Bea Monter, we call them BMO for kicks though." Lady was introducing. Bonnie looked over and smiled. BMO looked up and presented her a wave "Nice to meet you!" they chirped, before their eyes fixed back to their screen.

Lady moved on "This is-" "I'm Finn! Mertens! Um! It's really nice to meet you!" the boy, Finn, broke in. Blinking sky blue eyes at her from his seat. A little red flush to his face that Bonnie found a little strange. "Hi Finn." she nodded over to the boy, his white bear had covering his hair aside from a few stray blonde locks. He looked a bit younger than the rest of them.

Tossing him an annoyed look, Lady moved over to the most muscular boy at the end of the row. His dusty brown hair was ruffled as Lady leaned closer to him than the others, clearly hinting at a more intimate relationship between the two of them. "My Boyfriend Jake." she introduced grinning down at the seated boy as he tossed her a flush goofy smirk.

"Hi there!" he said, looking back to their new arrival as Bonnie shifted "It's good to meet you all, I'm Bonnibel." a smile was brought to her face as she and Lady finally sat down.

Most of lunch passed by with Finn and Jake passing banter between the two of them, telling her stories of the things they've encountered. The enthusiasm they expressed making sound like they had encountered monsters and beasts instead of regular people. Bonnie couldn't help but laugh a few times, a little content feeling coming over her as she realized that she'd managed to make friends.

Now if she could just keep them from finding out, then perhaps she'd be able to keep them.

Proceeding to German now after waving goodbye to the quartet, Bonnibel managed to get confused all over again, and wished Lady had a class this way so they could've walked together. It was a couple of minutes before the bell was supposed to ring signaling that class would start. Bonnibel was pumped with adrenaline, kicked into overdrive from worry and fear of being late and singled out as the new student. She could already see the scenarios in her head, as she looked around for the right damn classroom number.

Deciding to ask for some help, Bonnibel called over to a student hurrying her direction, her curly black hair tied up and tongue sticking out of her mouth as she shoved something away into her bag mid-stride.

Bonnie strangled her anxiety "P-Pardon me but do you happen to know where class 802 is?"

The olive skinned girl fixed moca eyes on her, before a smile hit her face "Yeah girl, that's my class. You can just walk with me."

Relief rolled over Bonnibel "Oh thank goodness." she was quickly walking in step beside the unnamed girl

"I'm sorry for being so clueless, I just moved here yesterday."

They waved her off "Aye don't worry about it. Where'd ya move from?" she smiled "I'm Keila by the way." Bonnie smiled back "I'm Bonnibel, you can just call me Bonnie though. I moved from Ohio, been there most of my life until now." she told her, as they both stepped into the classroom, the bell chiming not a second later. The teacher presented them a disapproving frown that made Bonnibel lower her head. Clearly Keila had done this before, and showed no sign of shame as she turned to go sit down, looking at Bonnibel briefly to mouth "sit by me".

"Hello, I just moved?" the pinkette prompted, making the teacher glower at her once again before handing over a couple translation notes "I'm . Have the notes memorized by the quiz Thursday. Failure is unacceptable!" he deadpanned before squawking the last word unexpectedly. Bonnibel nodded quickly before hurrying away and taking a seat. Keila had parked herself in the back corner, so there was actually a seat open just in front of her.

"Don't mind Lem, he's got a permanent stick up his ass." Keila muttered from behind her, making Bonnie laugh quietly.

The two of them talked the rest of the class, Bonnibel finding out that Keila was a pretty cool person and Keila learning a bit about her encounter with the unnamed girl who'd glared at her in History. To which Keila laughed, and offered some vague advice before getting cut off from .

The rest of the day went by in a blur to Bonnibel, her exhaustion having crept up on her, leaving her all too eager when she could finally lie down in her bed.

But as she drifted off to sleep, the piercing glare pushed itself back into her fuzzing mind, because even if it held so much darkness and hatred, Bonnie couldn't stop thinking about the way that they had glimmered with an equal amount of sadness.


	3. Chapter Two: Just Another Day

Chapter Two:

 _Just Another Day_

* * *

 **Tuesday, September 4th, 2018 (6:00am)**

As morning broke the horizon, and in the confines of a certain house, an alarm clock blared.

Marceline raised her head with a growl, her maine of black hair a disheveled mess as she peered across the room to frown at the offending piece of technology that had awakened her from sleep.

Reaching she slammed her hand over the beeping device, tucking her away again into sleepy quiet, which lasted for a groundbreaking two minutes, until she heard a large fist pound on the doorframe

"Marceline!"

That earned nothing but a groan, as Hunson huffed at the doorway "I will not tolerate you being late for school again! Get up!" he barked before moving on downstairs to the kitchen.

Marceline raised a particular finger at the door, grumbling as she propped herself up.

"Good morning to you too, Asshole." she muttered, wrapping pale fingers around her phone, she smirked slightly as she read the text from Keila.

**Keila: I'm soo regretting all of those drinks now :( **

**Keila: u picking me up? **

Marceline thumbed a quick text back

*Marceline: told you, you idiot *

*Marceline: yea, be there in 10 *

Getting dressed, the pale teen paused as she passed by the bathroom, walking in she peered bitterly at her reflection in the mirror, raising a slow hand to touch her neck, clenching her teeth she traced the twin scars there, feeling her stomach squeeze in an ugly way. It had been at least eleven years now, since.. Everything happened. A cold, heavy look settled into her eyes, as she looked at the disappointment in the mirror.

"Still not strong enough." Marceline murmured, flinching suddenly as she heard a shout from downstairs, tearing her from the moments she instinctively dropped her hand and moved from the bathroom.

"Hurry up Marceline!"

Reaching the kitchen Hunson studied her critically, the look of disapproval in his eyes never ceased to make a terrible impression of a smile pull ridgedly on her face "Could you ever wear something less.." he gestured to her entire outfit, the ravenette having donned her typical attire of deep red combat style boots, tattered black jeans, black jacket, and a dark maroon shirt with a white depiction of a fire encircled skull with big messy letters reading 'SPAWN OF HELL'

"No idea what you're talkin' about Dad." she drawled with mock innocence, plucking an apple from the bowl in the center of the dinner table and moving towards the door, sholdering her backpack. The table was really more for appearances, since it had been years since they had eaten together in any sort of setting unless people were over, and when had that ever happened?

"Be home after school, Marceline!" Hunson ordered as she closed the front door.

The girl snorted, kicking across the front yard towards her car, a silver 2009 Acura TSX Sedan that she honestly still couldn't believe Hunson had actually got her. Remembering the moment when it happened still seemed entirely bizarre, as he'd handed her the keys, an awkward nervous look in his dark eyes as he then proceeded to lecture her a full rundown of how it was important she be careful.

Getting into the car, she pulled out with a gusto, veering down the street, she entered Keila's street, puting the car in park she lifted her phone from her pocket, about to send a text when Keila came bouncing out of the door, waving goodbye to someone unseen within the house. Wrapping around the car, Marceline watched as her best friend tossed her bag into the backseat and flopped into the passenger beside Marceline.

"Hey Mar," Keila groaned, rubbing her temples as the car was put in drive and sent steadily down the road again. "Remind me to take your advice next time! I really need to cut back the drinks when we're doing our late-night jam sessions." she said, making Marceline shake her head ruefully at her friend

"I tell you every time, you just go into denial and think you can handle it."

"I blame you for not being convincing enough"

"Oh wow, smart move."

A pout, "You're a jerk."

A smirk, "You're an idiot."

The bickering went on like usual for the pair, as it did every morning, but Marceline couldn't help but feel a restless feeling curling in her chest as they pulled into the school parking lot. She didn't kill the engine and instead turned to look seriously at her friend "Cover for me?"

Keila frowned at her "Again? You know your Dad's gonna be pissed."

Marceline drummed her fingers atop of the steering wheel "When isn't he? He can fuckin' deal."

Shaking her head, Keila exited the car, going to the backseats to retrieve her bag "Just don't take too long, ok? We need to work on our project at some point!"

Marceline nodded, a little smile on her lips "I won't, thanks Kei."

Keila stepped away from the car, doing an over extravagant bow "Anything for the Queen!"

That got a snort from the other girl "Oh god shut up, that joke is so old."

Keila laughed as she walked away, leaving Marceline in a moment of amused silence before she turned out of the lot again, driving off down the road.

* * *

 **Tuesday, September 4th, 2018 (9:12am)**

Entering Norran High School, Marceline pushed a long sigh from her dark lips. God did she hate this place, with the shitty blue walls and overused motivational posters, it all just seemed too fake for Marceline, artificial and pointless.

Strolling into her class a good twenty-five or so minutes late since it's start, no one was exactly surprised. After a little over a year of this, even the teacher didn't bother to present her with a disapproving look, instead merely stating "Get your instrument ready, Miss Abadeer."

The class was dual oriented, in which it had advanced music theory, and you played in a music group where you could play whatever you wanted so long as you played your cards right and scored well on the tests the teacher gave. Luckily Marceline managed to do this quite well, and also had been in the class long enough now that the teacher anticipated tardiness and misdemeanor of her, and gave harder tests and music, but in turn let a couple of things slide, such as coming into class late every other tuesday.

Keila smiled at her as the dark girl settled into her usual seat beside her "Sup girl. How'd your mysterious venture go this time?"

Marceline made a strange expression and shrugged "No better than usual."

Keila tapped her chin "Yeah, secret relationships are like that.."

Marceline rolled her eyes at the other girl, leaning back in the chair while picking at a loose strand on her shredded jeans. "Oh so it's a secret relationship now is it?"

Keila leaned over and blinked playfully at her friend "Oh no I've had my suspicions for a while now. What did you expect? You know I've got an imagination." a finger pointed into her forearm

"What's he like? Or what's she like?" Keila goaded, the teasing causing Marceline to turn her head to the side, making a gagging sound "Oh hell no! Please it ain't like that. You can cross secret relationship off your guess list." she quickly assured, causing Keila to cover her mouth to stifle the laughter tempting to escape.

"Okay Okay, but I'm still not entirely convinced." Keila conceded after calming her amusement.

Marceline could say one good thing about Norran, Music class was pretty great. She could spend most of the time talking and messing around with Keila and when she actually had to pay attention it usually didn't end up being too boring.

It was the rest of the day that usually took the downhill spiral.

As first period ended, and Marceline parted ways with Keila, she felt that black feeling crawl over her.

Voices, whispered down her neck as she walked the halls

"...fucking monster."

"Shh! What if she hears you?"

"She would wouldn't she? Vampires probably have super hearing."

"Exactly so-"

"You know I still want to throw up thinking about the night she-"

Marceline's teeth clenched, and she jerked to a stop in the middle of the hall. It was an instant reaction, almost every student loitering around by their lockers or watching her held their breath. The black shroud her long hair cast around her face making her expression indistinguishable. "Do you have something to fuckin' say, Ricardio?"

Marceline turned, stalking towards the boy and his jittery compatriot. Ricardio, a large sweaty blob of a guy was clearly trying to act unfazed as he looked back at her, but Marceline knew the look that glimmered in his eyes, that sign that told her

 _'you're inhuman.'_

It just made the dark girl's teeth clench harder, and her head tilted to the side, inadvertently exposing the side of her neck with those ugly twin scars. Ricardio sweated, gulping as he stole a look up into her chilling grey-blue stare. "W-Whatever, Vampire." he mumbled, not able to hold her eyes, the humiliation evident in his own hateful look towards his shoes.

The title she wore like a second skin, the title that put fear in the hearts of Norran's students. The Vampire of Norran High. She remembered how that had made her feel in the beginning. "Yeah. Whatever, greasy heart." she growled, finding the way he and his friend trembled ridiculous, she wasn't even touching him, but they both expected her to rip them limb from limb then and there.

"Hmpf" she stepped away, shoving her clenched fists into her pockets "Don't go fuckin' cursing my name when I'm within earshot, idiot." she grumbled to herself as she ducked past people and out of the hallway.

She spotted a flash of pink and caught wide soft green eyes in her already bristling glare. She approached and then passed by the new student, walking into their History class. "Nothin' to see here, Princess." Marceline jabbed over her shoulder, feeling the girl's eyes following her.. Whatever.

History was quiet as it began, the teacher probably thought it was a blessing, as she began speaking "Alright everyone! We're going to be starting another partner project! Now the last two times I let you all choose who you did your project with or if you did it by yourself, but this time I am going to assign you your partners." she finished, before going down her list, calling out names to be paired together.

Marceline scratched her arm agitatedly, that all too familiar sensation of worms churning in her belly giving her a dreadful tension over her shoulders. Anxiety, Stress.

"Abadeer.. You'll be doing this project with.. Miss Banner, our new student."

Shit. Marceline rubbed a pale hand along the side of her face, she was too worn out to be putting up with people today. After the late night with Keila, her early morning visit, and the slob in the hall just a couple minutes ago, the standoffish girl really didn't feel like coming nose to nose with anyone else.

"Hello?" a soft voice called towards her. Marceline resisted the instant urge to bristle coldly towards them and instead slowly raised her eyes towards the speaker. The new kid had turned her body to face her own, and then promptly raised a hand Marceline's direction

"My name is Bonnibel, and I look forward to working with you. What's your name?" she stated, her prompt politeness throwing the other dark teen off, making her blink widely at Bonnibel, not expecting the girl to actually present a greeting of any sort her way.

Marceline was silent for a full moment, gray-blue gaze locked onto gentle green, before eventually she took a breath, washing away her surprised stare and casually wrapped her hand around Bonnibel's own, which she'd still left outstretched. Her palm was warm and soft, and to her chilled fingers it was entirely alien. "It's Marceline." she rasped, and a thin ghost of a grin landed on the corner of her mouth

"Let's see how long you last, Princess."


End file.
